Quick Take
After 12 years on Santa Cruz’s Westside, Izakaya West End – formerly West End Tap & Kitchen – has closed its restaurant, with the final dinner service held Sunday night, though the bar will remain open with a pop-up menu through July 31. Owners Geoff Hargrave and Quinn Cormier say they’re ready for a new chapter, and while they haven’t disclosed who’s taking over the space, a new food concept is expected to move in soon.
Farewell to Izakaya West End, formerly West End Tap & Kitchen, and its fried calamari, fluffy pork bao buns, and popular flatbreads. On Sunday, the Westside Santa Cruz restaurant announced that it will close its doors after 12 years.
The restaurant revealed on Instagram that Sunday’s dinner service was its last. “After 12 amazing years, West End is closing its doors tonight. Thank you for your support and for sharing countless memories with us,” reads the Instagram post. The bar will remain open until July 31.
The post hinted that another tenant or food business will be moving into the large, full service restaurant and bar space, located in Santa Cruz’s buzzy Westside neighborhood: “While we say goodbye to West End, rest assured that a new concept will soon fill this beloved space.”
A reputable local restaurateur made an offer on the business, and Izakaya owners Geoff Hargrave and Quinn Cormier decided it was time for them to move on, said Hargrave. He declined to share more details about the identity of the new owner before they made their own public announcement.
“We had a good run. I was very happy with the 12 years we were there. We were received well by the community, but now it’s time for a new chapter in that building,” said Hargrave. “It’s bittersweet, but we feel positive about this move, transition and changeover for ourselves and the Westside community.”
While lunch and dinner service has ended, Izakaya is offering a creative pop-up available at the bar, along with beverages, through the end of the month. The menu includes hot dogs with Japanese-inspired flavors, several salads and a Spam musubi.
Business partners Cormier and Hargrave opened West End Tap & Kitchen as one of the area’s first gastropubs in 2013 with a focus on craft beer and elevated, beer-friendly cuisine like burgers, flatbreads, and salads made with produce from local farmers markets.
The duo went on to open two more restaurants in the area. In 2016, Cormier and Hargrave opened East End Gastropub on 41st Avenue in Capitola with a similar concept of modern takes on classic comfort food with craft beer, local wine and cocktails. Earlier this year, they opened Tortilla Shack, a fast-casual Mexican restaurant offering customizable burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas and nachos made with chef-driven ingredients and tortillas pressed to order.
Last summer, the owners shocked many longtime customers by closing West End, which was open daily, for a week. When it reopened, the space was relaunched as Izakaya West End, with a new Japanese-inspired concept and menu. Although still a gastropub – loosely translated, “izakaya” means “pub” – the American menu of shareable plates, large salads and hearty mains was replaced with Japanese-inspired cuisine, including ramen, sashimi and pork belly-stuffed bao.
At the time, Cormier and Hargrave told Lookout they wanted to breathe life into their restaurant and inspire themselves and their staff with new ideas. “We never thought about changing West End because it was such a successful place, and why would we change it? But the restaurant’s been there for 10-plus years, and just as restaurant people, we wanted to see a change in our own space,” Cormier told Lookout. Hargrave, the executive chef, described the change as “a breath of fresh air.”
Izakaya West End’s closure won’t affect End End or Tortilla Shack, said Hargrave. In fact, they plan on expanding hours at East End and adding a happy hour. “We’re moving some staff over to East End to create a more robust service,” he said. “We will be focusing fully on East End and Tortilla Shack.”
